Lemon-Tahini Caesar Salad with White Beans (Vegan)
The keys to a good plant-based Caesar salad in my book are a garlicky, creamy, lemon dressing paired with fresh lettuce or kale and a delicious, salty vegan Parmesan. While this salad definitely isn’t a classic Caesar, it’s still wildly delicious and only takes 20 minutes to throw together!
Servings 4
Calories 340kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 1⁄4 cup tahini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or other sweetener
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) water plus more as needed
For the vegan parmesan
- 1/3 cup raw, hulled, unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
For the salad
- 8 cups kale
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 red onion, sliced
- 1 540 ml canned white beans, drained and rinsed
Optional additional toppings
- Additional vegan Parmesan
- Cracked black pepper
- Fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Make the Dressing
- In a small bowl or blender, whisk or blend together the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, nutritional yeast, maple syrup, salt, pepper and water to make the dressing. Add more water to adjust the consistency to your liking.
Make the Vegan Parmesan
- Using a small food processor, coffee grinder or blender, blend the sunflower seeds, salt and nutritional yeast until the vegan Parmesan has the texture of sand.
Assemble the Salad
- In a large bowl, sprinkle the kale with apple cider vinegar. Using your hands, massage the kale and apple cider vinegar together until the kale is slightly wilted and darker green, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the onion, white beans, 2 tablespoons of the vegan Parmesan and the salad dressing to the kale. You may not need to use all of the salad dressing! Toss well to combine everything. Feel free to serve it with additional vegan Parmesan, pepper and lemon juice.
Notes
Store salad dressing and vegan parmesan leftovers in separate airtight containers for up to 5 days.
Depending on how runny your tahini is, you may need to add more water to thin. The tahini I used for this recipe was a very thin, runny consistency.
You can definitely use romaine lettuce in this recipe if you’d prefer it over kale! If so, I'd recommend using closer to 6 cups of romaine, since the kale wilts when we massage it.
You’ll likely have leftover vegan Parmesan. Feel free to use it in pastas, salads and even on popcorn!
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25of recipe | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 850mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 220mg | Iron: 4.5mg
